It has been known in contact sports, especially football, that the impacts are dangerous to the participants, especially young people still in stages of bone growth. Thus it has been common to provide various protective equipments for football players and the like including padding and especially including impact protective helmets to protect the head and skull area from impact injuries. While such helmets have been significant in reducing direct impact injuries from blows to the head, the current style of rigid helmet with face guard has introduced an increased risk of paralyzing injury. This is because the rigid helmet and rigid face guard, which are braced to prevent direct impact injury to the face area and head, result in the transfer of all forces to the head as a body. The head and skull being encased within a padded helmet is securely gripped by the helmet and any force applied to the helmet moves the entire head and is concentrated in the cervical region of the spine.
Thus, since the invention and widespread use of rigid football helmets and face guards especially in high school and some college use with relatively unconditioned or unskilled players, has resulted in an increasing incidence of broken necks and cervical injuries.
It has been determined that these injuries are principally of the type involving compression fractures to the cervical region of the spine when the head is brought back suddenly either by a grip or blow on the helmet forcing it backwards or as a whipping action when the head is sprung into sudden flexion and extension forward and then rebounds backwards. The compression forces are sufficient to overcome the padding effect of spinal discs and concentrate in the cervical region of the spine thus creating the maximum risk of totally paralyzing injury or death.
Many prior art patents have attempted to reduce the risk of neck injuries from helmet motions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,896 to Ackerman discloses a rigid support member fastened between the back of the helmet and the shoulder pads of a football athlete. The member is pivoted for rotation around a vertical axis at the point of attachment to the shoulder pads and this is the only concession to motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,818,509 to Romo and others discloses an elastic strap fastened to the bottom end of the shoulder pads or a body harness and in an upper end to the helmet to prevent injuries when the head is snapped forward.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,821 to Mickel discloses an impact absorbing pad fastened to the rear of a helmet shell to prevent or absorb an impact from a blow to the rear of the helmet shell and ameliorate the effects of the helmet shell being driven into the rear of the neck. The specific helmet cited is that of a combat infantry helmet for paratroopers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,863 to Rickard discloses a variation on this in which as part of a safety helmet, an elongate vertically extending neck pad is engaged against the back of the wearer's neck. The particular shape of the neck pad is claimed to limit concentration of forces from a backward tilting of the helmet, preventing the force from being concentrated onto the upper portion of the cervical vertebrae.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,014 to Morgan discloses a flexible protective sheath having a padded inner surface mounted to the rear of the helmet, bearing against the neck.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,362 to Ettinger discloses protective padding for suspension beneath the front and the rear of the helmet. The rear padding is suspended so as to be captured between the back of the helmet and the shoulder pads, preventing excessive tilting back of the helmet.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,139,623 to Joseph discloses mounting the back portion of a football helmet by means of hinges and flexible straps so that if the helmet is forced back on the head the rear of the helmet yields instead of rigidly contacting the neck.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,230,544 to Mager discloses an alternate form of give away flap on the rear of a football helmet for preventing impacting of the helmet into the back of the neck
U.S. Pat. No. 3,609,763 to Raney discloses a form of neck guard in a full coverage safety helmet in which the portion of the opening of the rear of the helmet is made not of a rigid material but of a resilient padded flexible material which gives in the event of a backward force upon the helmet.
The prior art known to the inventor is of two types. One fastens the helmet so rigidly to a support structure that safe and effective play is not possible due to restrictions on the player's head motion, and thus to his vision and responsiveness. The other attempts to spread the impact loading over the surface of the neck, but does not reduce the total impact forces on the cervical spine.